Governance and Performance Management of Public Employment Services in the United States and the European Union

Conference Agenda

Thursday, September 3
13:00 - 14:00	Opening lunch
14:00 - 14:20	Welcome – Jackie Morin, Head of Unit, DG Employment, EU Commission; Douglas Besharov, Professor, University of Maryland and the Atlantic Council, US
14:20 - 15:30	PES programs in the EU and US This session will present PES programs in the EU and the US and discuss the approaches to monitoring labour market policies performance. It will also offer an overview of what is meant by PES in the EU and the US, including the different roles of PES in the two regions, the services they provide, the populations they target, and the challenges and opportunities they face. Chair: Jackie Morin, Head of Unit, DG Employment, EU Commission Speakers: Lambert Kleinmann, Policy Officer, DG Employment, European Commission, "An overview of PES models and PES programs in the EU" Presentation Tom Bevers, Chair of the Employment Committee, "The role of EMCO in monitoring labour market policies and PES and ALMP performance" Presentation Demetra Nightingale, Chief Evaluation Officer, U.S. Department of Labor, "U.S. Employment Services and Workforce Programs" Presentation Discussion
15:30 - 16:00	Coffee Break
16:00 - 18:00	Institutional setting and governance of PES: European and American models The institutional structures of PES in the EU and the US, especially how strategic decisions regarding policies and programs are formulated and implemented. The US has for many years relied on a decentralized approach for decision making and service delivery, and several EU member states have moved to various degrees of devolution for administering PES programs. With more member states moving toward more decentralized systems (or contemplating one), this session will discuss the benefits and costs of devolution and the issues of local priority setting, cross-location consistency of service delivery, inclusiveness of participation, and development of local partnerships. Included will be current practices and further possibilities in analyzing PES needs and targeting resources and customizing services, including profiling, skill validation systems, and statistical referrals. (A Latin American example will be included.) Chair: Douglas J. Besharov, Professor, University of Maryland Speakers: Sylvain Giguere, Head of the LEED Programme, OECD, "The governance of workforce development and employment services and its impact on jobs" Presentation Morten Binder, Director General of PES Denmark, "Institutional setting and governance of PES: European and American models - The Danish organizational model" Presentation Timo Weishaupt, Professor, University of Göttingen, Germany, "Governing PES effectively: between central steering and local autonomy" (by Skype) Presentation Steffen Sottung, Head of Controlling Unemployment Insurance, "PES Germany: The German model" Presentation Harry Holzer, Professor, Georgetown University, US Anu Rangarajan, Vice President, Mathematica; Ariel Fiszbein, Senior Fellow, Inter-American Dialogue, "Understanding Skills Development in Latin America" Presentation Discussion
19:30	Dinner, Leopold Brussels Hotel EU- Rue Du Luxembourg 35 - 1050 Brussel Speaking Guest: Aart De Geus, President of Bertelsmann Foundation "PES in the face of today’s labour market developments"
Friday, September 4
9:00 - 10:00	Performance measurement and accountability systems The different approaches to monitoring performance of PES programs in the EU and US, including the alignment of performance measures with the goals of the PES, the types of metrics used (process and outcome measures), and how the measures are used for management decisions, policy making, and accountability, including rewards or penalties for high or low performance. The session will also explore the differences and similarities between performance measurement and evaluations. Chair: Morten Binder, Director General of PES Denmark Speakers: Alex Nunn, Director of the Centre for Applied Social Research, Leeds Metropolitan University, "EU-US Exchange: Performance Management and EU PES" Presentation Joost Bollens, Policy Analyst, VDAB, "The Belgian-Flanders example" Presentation Carolyn Heinrich, Professor, Vanderbilt University, US "Performance Measurement and Accountability Systems" Presentation
10:15 - 11:30	Impact evaluation and evaluation of Financial Programmes Sometimes performance measures are used as a way to determine the effectiveness of a program. But simply because a program is meeting its targets (efficiency), does not necessarily indicate that it is achieving its goals (effectiveness). This session will explore differences and similarities between performance measurement and impact evaluation—and the best ways to assess the effectiveness of PES programs. Chair: Lambert Kleinmann, Policy Officer, DG Employment, European Commission Speakers: David Grubb, Senior Economist, OECD, "Performance measurement and impact evaluation: Differences and Similarities" Barbara Roubicek, DG EMPL, European Commission, "Evaluation of ES" Presentation Jacob Klerman, Principal Associate and Senior Fellow, Abt Associates, US, "Impact Evaluation and Evaluation of Financial Programs" Presentation
11:30 - 12:00	Coffee Break
12:00 - 13:15	Target setting processes Performance targets or standards, often set annually, seek to hold administrators accountable for the operations of their programs. This session will explore how performance targets are determined. The process typically is accomplished through negotiations between governmental entities. Because most performance measures reflect factors beyond the control of administrators, such as the personal characteristics and abilities of program participants and the economic conditions of local labor markets, statistical methods are often used to adjust the targets to reflect these outside factors. This session will discuss the process of setting targets and the logic behind the methodology used to adjust for outside factors as well as rewards or penalties for high or low performance. Chair: Randall Eberts, President, Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Speakers: Morten Binder, Director General of PES Denmark, "Target setting process - The Danish model" Presentation Johannes Kopf, Director General PES Austria, "Two types of targets and subsequent two types of target setting methods" Presentation Burt Barnow, Professor, George Washington University, US, "Measures and Standard Setting for U.S. Employment and Training Programs" Presentation
13:15 - 14:15	Lunch
14:15 - 15:30	Benchmarking System In addition to setting performance targets for subnational jurisdictions, many countries also compare the performance of jurisdictions to one another through benchmarking. This session will explore the different methods of benchmarking (national, regional, or cluster), how countries adjust for differences among jurisdictions to attempt to create an equitable comparison, and the rewards or penalties for high or low performing jurisdictions. Chair: Johannes Kopf, Director, Austrian PES Speakers: Steffen Sottung, Head of Controlling Unemployment Insurance, "PES Germany: Benchmarking as a Basis for Planning, Performance Management and Personal Evaluation" Presentation Randall Eberts, President, Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, "Targets and Benchmarks in the U.S. Workforce System" Presentation
15:30 - 17:00	Paying by-result contracting Many countries or localities contract out the provision of PES services to private contractors. The contracts often provide an additional level of performance measurement as contractors are required to meet defined performance targets for process, and in some cases outcome, indicators. This session will explore the market incentives that are being used and could be used to administer PES programs, including mechanisms of subcontracting and pay-for-results contracts. Chair: Demetra Nightingale, Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor Speakers: Paul Williams, Labour Market Operations Director, UK PES "The UK model" Presentation Andy Fuller, Director, Alphametrics Dick Vink, Dick Vink Associates, the Netherlands "The Dutch experiences with decentralisation, privatisation & incentives" Presentation David Heaney, The Social Assistance Partnership, US
17:00	End of meeting
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